An AFP photographer saw troops open fire on people gathered near one of the Bosphorus bridges in Istanbul and state-run news agency Anadolu reported that the Parliament in Ankara had been bombed.

The sound of fighter jets flying over Istanbul and Ankara signalled the start of the putsch late on Friday and they could still be heard in the early hours of Saturday.

People carry a man shot during clashes with Turkish military at the entrance to the Bosphorus bridge in Istanbul.
(AFP Photo)

World leaders called for calm, with US President Barack Obama urging support for the government which he said had been elected in democratic elections.

‘Heavy price’

State broadcaster TRT said the troops behind the putsch had declared martial law and a curfew, in a statement signed by a group calling itself the “Council for Peace in the Homeland”.

“The power in the country has been seized in its entirety,” the statement said.

It said the coup had been launched “to ensure and restore constitutional order, democracy, human rights and freedoms and let the supremacy of the law in the country prevail, to restore order which was disrupted”.

It was not yet clear whether the attempted takeover had widespread backing in the military, or rogue elements within it. No named military officer claimed responsibility for the actions.

“We have hope now,” he added. “Turkey has been in a very polarised state for almost 15 years now... This is the manifestation of all that anger.”

People take to the street in support of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Antalya, Turkey.
(AFP Photo)

Global concern

Erdogan also blamed the events on “the parallel state” and “Pennsylvania” -- a reference to Pennsylvania-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, his arch-enemy who he has always accused of seeking to overthrow him.